My Heart Aches

Please pray for my cousin Heidi and her husband Chris and their families...

Years after being told they had very little chance of conceiving they were finally given a miracle! Heidi was due this coming July 8 but sadly their baby (girl as it turns out) had been called to heaven, this last weekend, before being born. 

Please pray for peace and understanding and comfort for them!

Summer Starts Today!

Hmmm...I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post! Life at times feels as slow as a snail (NOT!!) and at other times whizzes passed without so much as a how do you do! 

I can't believe little girl will be 6 months in just shy of 2weeks from today! The magic age where she's old enough for sunscreen (FYI...not a fan of this idea yet but that Oklahoma sun is looking pretty spicy!), sitting by herself, the beginnings of crawling, and FOOD!!! Oh my goodness this girl just can hardly wait for the Dr.'s go ahead...She watches our every spoonful at dinner and even mimics the chewing (with her mouth closed! Teach 'em early). I felt so bad for her one hot day so I let her suck on my slice of watermelon...she was so grateful, she refused to give it back!

Little girl has been growing so much too!! Last month she weighed in at a whopping 17lbs 10oz! (I'll find out next week what we're up to now!) This week I went through her closet & dresser and moved up the 12m-18m clothes and put away most of her 6m sized outfits...when did this happen!?! Lately she's been getting better at rolling from back to front and vice versa...that darn arm keeps getting in her way! She has no problems at all going for toys she wants...rolls and squirms her way across the floor as needed! Not even crawling yet and already I can't turn my back for a moment!

FAMILIES FIRST

This will be a major jumbled mash up from the last couple of months! 

• Babies develop from the head down. If you ever wonder what the next big thing your baby will be learning to do just take a moment and consider the above statement. 1-follow with eyes 2-smiles 3-holds up neck 4-reaches (hands) 5-rolls over (uses torso) 6-sits up (bum) 7-crawls (knees) 8-walks (feet)

•Family Practices & Traditions

I actually never thought to deeply about what our traditions are...it's just always been something we do! (ex: holiday gatherings/birthday parties/Christmas stockings/marriage & birth celebrations/etc...) It actually never really donned on me that these ARE North American traditions that I am passing on. Same goes for family practices...(swaddling/feeding/religious beliefs/who's allowed to hold baby/role of father/family lullabies & games/role of mother/role of grandparents) What practices are you bestowing on your child?!

•E-Parenting

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this...most of us naturally do this but knowing that there are some major pay offs has me doing it with a purpose!

Empathic parenting is basically asking yourself what your child is experiencing and putting his/her feelings into words and then doing something to help/support them. For example: You are hungry! Lets get you something to eat.  I know you are mad cause you have a yucky diaper...lets get that changed...here's a dry clean one.  Look at you all happy...you like playing with daddy! ETC....

This kind of empathy will let the child know and feel that you understand what he/she is experiencing and that you can be depended on! Some payoffs would be: fewer temper tantrums as children develop "feeling word vocabularies"/develop good coping skills/will not bully/are able to pay attention and learn in school/more sensitive towards others/respectful/good self-esteem/ and much more!

Sounds good to me...not to mention that the more you talk the greater your child's vocabulary later on!

Finally I will leave you young moms with this...TAKE HEART...It usually takes me a week sometimes two or until the next laundry day to fold and put away our clean clothes! Despite having a dishwasher, the dishes still pile up in my sink. My floors are sticky from baby puke. Dinner is only on time if one of three things happen: 1-someone has a good suggestion as to what to make 2-Ike or Claudia makes it 3-Ike or Claudia looks after Sonya so I can make it!!! Finally...I, only in passing, pluck a weed here and there!! What can I say...I would far rather enjoy playing on the floor or going for an afternoon walk with my girly than do any of the above mentioned atrocities! Oh and I occasionally blog during her nap time instead of picking up! 

Sonntag

Today we woke up and thought, "How can we make ourselves feel like outsiders, lost, and totally awkward?" Hmmm...how about we go to a Sangerfest in Schanzenfeld! Yep you read right! Ike's co-worker Galina invited us to her german church today for an all day song festival complete with delicious lunch. You wouldn't think that in a sea of white people at a church you could feel so uncomfortable...after all I did put a dress on (it may have been a notch too colourful). Despite how uncomfortable we were they did treat us really well; playing musical pews to allow a seat for us, giving us headphones so we could listen to a paraphrasing translator, letting me know about an enclosed corner for nursing in the quiet room(which I didn't use cause I already was in the quiet room why do I need to hide? I cover up...lol), and picking us out in a crowd of about 1000 people and ushering us to the front of the lunch line up(while 2000 eyes watched)!
Even though we felt so very awkward I have to say that it was pretty good...it felt like a typical Mennonite church with an amazing choir, great food, and my personal favorite boys in slacks with mini frilly aprons acting as busboys during the lunch(if I hadn't felt a million eyes on me I would've snapped a picture!! Guess you'll just have to use your wild imaginations!)

UPDATE:
Apparently my husband is bolder than I am! Enjoy!

A Weeks Worth of Highlights!

Last weekend we ventured out to St. Pierre where we enjoyed a fairly nice day(weather wise) at the Sugar Festival. I always enjoy having fresh made taffy on snow! This year they had a whole lot more stuff to do too! They had men and women dressed up in costumes...the men even had black powder rifles which they demonstrated to my mother's surprise! We also enjoyed an old school clothes washing demonstration by a very sweet little girl while waiting for fresh made straight out of the oven 'Pets de Soeur' (pastry cinnamon rolls). We also partook in a good old fashioned horse drawn wagon ride around town! Always a good time at the Sugar Shack!
Yesterday we had what was supposed to be Sonya's 2 month check up...her Dr. Is so busy it ended up being a 3 1/2 month check up! We weren't too concerned though cause she's been doing so well health & development wise! Our "little" peanut now weighs 16lbs 4oz...wow almost 7lbs gained since birth! No wonder her car seat is sooo heavy!
I've been doing pretty good too, besides exhaustion and plugged breast ducts (so so painful!). Even my incision has almost completely disappeared. The three month mark is definitely more fun and easier for outings! I love her smiles and giggles and her effort at talking and copying our crazy sounds!

FAMILIES FIRST
This week we watched a really cheesy 80s parenting video! The video was mostly about brain development and playtime. The biggest thing that I learned was to allow my child to learn through play without my direction. It's far too easy to want to help or to show them how to: get the puzzle right or appropriately play with a certain toy. By doing this we could be cutting short development in other areas of the brain.
'We often learn more by making mistakes than getting it right!'

NEW ME!!

FAMILIES FIRST
I have a wonderful seasoned mom-visitor who comes once a week to talk about child development and improving core family relationships. We also do crafts from time to time (something I prefer over those hard hitting questions)!
Today with Families First we talked about positive parenting; praising vs nagging. Hmm...I'm pretty sure I've done my share of nagging! Somehow, as a perfectionist, it has become easier to let people know what they've been doing wrong rather than praising what they've already done right. This is definitely something I need to work on as nobody loves and wants to spend time with a negative Nelly! Aaand I now realize how destructive and unproductive to a little persons ego, growth, and development it can be!
We also talked about family values and I received some homework for Ike and I to do this week (never was a fan of homework!). A while back Ike and I made a collage of some of OUR more important values that we want to instill in our children. Today I had to choose two that I thought we need to improve upon and we must answer a barrage of deep thinking questions and come up with a plan. The two that I chose were 'Having Fun Family Time' and 'Relationship With God'. I chose these two because I know that sometimes we get caught up in TV, me time, chores, etc... and we forget to stop and make memories as a family. For the same reasons mentioned earlier I have also been finding it difficult to make time to build on my relationship with God. It really shouldn't be this hard to make time for Him which is why it is something I want to work on so as to be a solid example for my children.

WISDOM TIDBIT
A book I read recently (thank you American Mom) talked about being 'the new normal'. It's a tough adjustment to make, going from doing what I want to doing what my children want and need! The author talked about how so many parents need to find themselves again after they've had children when really this is who they are now...THIS is the new normal...THIS is the new me! There is no need for a search-party!

Spoiled Sonya!

This year we celebrated Sonya for St. Patty's day! Aunty Vickie and my mom put on a beautiful baby shower for her! Family and friends showed up eager to meet her and spoil her with wonderful gifts, despite the looming blizzard. Luckily for most of us our husbands drove us there...unlucky for them, they were banished to the basement! A great time was had by all except for Sonya who decided to have a 'moody I only want daddy day'! Despite her grouchy-ness she received tons of very cute clothes...several pairs of shoes (just what every girl NEEDS)...fun books...a couple of playmats...a couple of exersaucers...AND a rocking horse that neighs and gallops and shakes its head and tail!! After opening all of these lovely gifts we indulged in sandwiches, pickles, and veggies...then dug into the desserts! Mmm...angelfood cake, fruit, whip cream, cookies, and brownies! So wonderful!

Sonya

What's this...a post?! Yes! Sonya is currently napping which gives me a few minutes to speed blog!
There are a handful of you out there who have been checking my blog and requesting her birth story...so here's the quick version. :)
On Jan. 3rd I had a routine Dr. appointment just before noon where she accidentally broke my water doing a cervix check. Oops! We got ourselves (well actually me) cleaned up and hurried to the hospital! Good thing Ike was with me and that I am a 'planner' who had everything we needed in the van already!  At the hospital I laboured for 30 hours and even with the help? of pitocin (a drug to help induce labour/contractions) I remained stuck at 6cm. At 7pm on Jan. 4th my Dr. and a surgeon gave me my options and I nearly in tears (after being cut off from my epidural due to complications) quickly begged them to hurry up and cut me open and end the pain!  At 8:21pm we found out that our baby was a girl!  She was born just in time too as infection had begun to set in, in my uterus.  Both Sonya and I had to be put on antibiotics for several days but we did really well and had no issues with our health! We did however spend nearly a week in the hospital because Sonya lost too much weight after birth and her breathing had them slightly concerned.  It was kind of nice having the extra days there because I was well taken care of by the nurses, I didn't have to cook, and I didn't have to over exert myself which helped with the healing from surgery!  We were very happy though to finally be released on Jan. 9th...it was soooo nice to be at home where it was calm and quiet!
Ever since that day we've been doing awesome!  She has been growing like crazy and is one super strong kiddo!  Recently we've been getting between 5 and 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep at night which makes up for the need to be fed every 1-2 hours and snuggled all day!

I LOVE MY MINI ME!!!